Lady Macbeth
A Novel
-
-
4.4 • 5 Ratings
-
-
- $14.99
Publisher Description
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • From #1 New York Times bestselling author Ava Reid comes a “masterful reimagining” (Publishers Weekly) of Lady Macbeth, Shakespeare’s most famous villainess, giving her a voice, a past, and a power that transforms the story men have written for her.
“Lady Macbeth doesn’t retell Shakespeare so much as slice cleanly through it, revealing what was hidden beneath. I couldn't look away.”—Alix E. Harrow, New York Times bestselling author of Starling House
A CRIMEREADS BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR
The Lady knows the stories: how her eyes induce madness in men.
The Lady knows she will be wed to the Scottish brute, who does not leave his warrior ways behind when he comes to the marriage bed.
The Lady knows his hostile, suspicious court will be a game of strategy, requiring all of her wiles and hidden witchcraft to survive.
But the Lady does not know her husband has occult secrets of his own. She does not know that prophecy girds him like armor. She does not know that her magic is greater and more dangerous, and that it will threaten the order of the world.
She does not know this yet. But she will.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
One of the most notorious characters in William Shakespeare’s repertoire gets a vivid reimagining in this darkly engrossing historical novel. Roscille, the illegitimate daughter of a French nobleman, is offered up to a brutal Scottish lord in an arranged marriage. At just 17, Roscille knows she’s little more than a possession to Lord Macbeth, and she must use her intelligence and feminine wiles to survive being married to a man whose cunning is only exceeded by his taste for blood. Lady Macbeth takes brilliant liberties with Shakespeare’s original character, portraying her as a woman who learns to manipulate her man by necessity rather than spite. We were struck by Ava Reid’s reimagined portrait of Scotland as a land where this story makes sense—one where violence and war are as common as air and water. This is a must-read for fans of the Scottish Play, and for anyone who appreciates a tale of gamesmanship at its most brutal.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this tour de force, bestseller Reid (A Study in Drowning) brilliantly brings to life an alternate version of Shakespeare's villainess that leans into the play's supernatural elements. Seventeen-year-old Roscille, the daughter of the Duke of Breizh, has been sent away from her homeland to wed Macbeth, the Thane of Glammis. Roscille is no ordinary bride, however. She is rumored to have been cursed by a witch, and, as a result, one look into her eyes is said to drive men mad. Adjusting to life with her husband is difficult; she is immediately parted from her handmaiden, whom she suspects has been killed, and is forced to care for herself. Roscille gets another shock when the thane leads her to a locked chamber in the depths of his castle, where he keeps three witches captive, who prophesy that he will gain the title of Thane of Cawder, before becoming the King of Scotland. Reid deftly subverts the expected plot beats, enhancing the play's familiar story line by deepening not only her heroine, who is surprisingly sympathetic, but members of the supporting cast, such as Banquho's son, Fléance. It's a masterful reimagining.
